Dispensing device

ABSTRACT

A dispensing device in the form of a closed box-shaped housing consisting of upper and lower housing members defining a dispensing slot. A freely floating annular friction body is guidedly retained within the housing and engages internal slide surfaces on the upper housing member and the two uppermost memo sheets of a stack of memo sheets inserted into the lower housing member. When withdrawing a memo sheet projecting partly through the dispensing slot, this movement will result in a rotational movement of the annular body within the housing whereby the memo sheet underlying the partly projecting memo sheet will be advanced into the dispensing slot.

[ 1 Sept. 23, 1975 1 DISPENSING DEVICE [75] Inventor: Hans Halm, HerneGermany [73] Assignee: Arlac-Werk Heiko Ippen, Hamburg,

Germany [22] Filed: Mar. 20, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 453,090

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Mar. 21, 1973 Germany .1 2314049[52] US. Cl. 221/23; 221/244; 221/259; 271/109 [51] Int. Cl. 865G 59/02[58] Field of Search 221/22, 23, 42, 43, 56, 221/58, 59, 244, 259, 260,279; 271/37, 109

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 363,694 5/1887 Sperryl221/259 X 2.996.219 8/1961 Tsai 221/259 3.169.660 2/1965 Holzwarth eta1. 221/260 X 3.269.591 8/1966 Harter v. 221/23 Primary ExaminerRobertB. Reeves Assistant Examiner-Joseph .1. Rolla Attorney. Agent. orFirm-Toren, McGeady and Stanger [57] ABSTRACT A dispensing device in theform of a closed boxshaped housing consisting of upper and lower housingmembers defining a dispensing slot. A freely floating annular frictionbody is guidedly retained within the housing and engages internal slidesurfaces'on the upper housing member and the two uppermost memo sheetsof a stack of memo sheets inserted into the lower housing member. Whenwithdrawing a memo sheet projecting partly through the dispensing slotthis movement will result in a rotational movement of the annular bodywithin the housing whereby the memo sheet underlying the partlyprojecting memo sheet will be advanced into the dispensing slot.

8 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures t i f US Patent Sept. 23,1975 Sheet 1 of33,907,159

US Patent Sept. 23,1975 Sheet 3 of3 3,907,159

DISPENSING DEVICE The present invention relates to a dispensing devicefor dispensing memo sheets or the like.

There are already known socalled card or sheet boxes for receiving smallsheets or note scraps and the like. These known sheet boxes comprise abox-shaped housing for receiving such memo or note sheets, cards or thelike. The housing may also include a hinged lid. All of these prior artsheet boxes allow to manually remove sheets one by one.

Likewise known is a sheet dispensing apparatus comprising a box-shapedhousing closed by a lid portion and having a front dispensing slot of awidth corresponding to the width of dispensable memo sheets. In theinterior cavity defined by the box there is arranged a support plate ontop of a stack of sheets. The support plate is provided with acentralrectangular recess. A pair of parallel continuous belts eachguided by a pair of return rollers is provided within this rectangularrecess. The return rollers of these conveyor type belts are mounted onthe support plate. The overall arrangement is such that the lowerstrands of the conveyor belts extend through the rectangular recess inthe support plate and engage the uppermost sheet of the stack of sheets.The support plate together with the transport means is guided internallyof the housing by means of lateral vertical guides. An apparatusof thistype, however, does not allow a perfect withdrawal of individual memosheets since when handling this sheet dispensing apparatus several memosheets will be fed simultaneously into the dispensing slot, and this isdue to the transport devices employed, especially to the extendedcontact surfaces of the transport belts on the memo sheets. The extendedcontact regions of the transport belt on the memo sheets moreover do notallow to overcome the adhesion forces existing between the individualmemo sheets. I

ln another prior art sheet dispensing apparatus there is provided arotating continuous transport belt of a greater width for feeding thesheets. This transport belt likewise engages the memo sheets along anextended contact surface. Additional devices serve to urge the memosheets against the transport belt in order to maintain a sufficientlyhigh contact pressure for'feeding sheets when the height of the stack ofmemo sheets increasingly diminishes. Toward this end, a support platefor the stack of sheets is provided in the interior cavity defined bythe housing. This support plate is spring biased and together with thestack of sheets is urged against the transport belt'.

It is now an object of the present invention to provide a novel andimproved dispensing device for dispensing memo sheets or the likei'n'which the functions of individual sheet feed and continuous heightadjustment are combined in a singlc'means so that assisted by astripping mca'ns arranged in the vicinity of the dispensing slot of thesheet containing housing there will be en sured a perfect separation ofthe individual sheets and the guidance of these sheets towardsthedispensing slot.

In accordance with the present inventionpthere is now proposed adispensing device for memo sheets or the like consisting of a two-parthousing in the form of a lower housing member and an upper housingmember defining together a dispensing slot at'a front endofthe' housing,a stack of sheets being adapted to be inserted into the housing, and acontinuous or endless conveyor means is adapted to act upon a stack ofsheets inserted into the housing. This dispensing device ischaracterized by an annular body floating freely within the interiorcavity defined by the housing whereby the housing is closed on all sidesexcept for the front end dispensing slot, the annular body engaging withan upper portion the inner surface of the upper housing member top walland engaging with a lower portion an uppermost sheet of a stack of memosheets inserted into the lower housing member. the annular bodyconsisting of a continuous strip of spring steel coated at its outerperiphery with a central ribbon-like friction-increasing coating, andadapted to assume a substantial elliptic configuration withsubstantially arcuate engagement surface portions, in automaticallyadjusting itself to the spacing between'the uppermost memo sheet and theinner surface of the top wall upper housing member, in therebymaintaining an approximately even contact pressure, the annular bodyfurthermore being guided by a mounting provided within the housingcavity, and being in engagement with a pair of profiled bar-type guidesurfaces integral with the inner surface of the upper housing member topwall, each of the guide surfaces being extended, at the end facing thedispensing slot, by a vertical stop extending transversely of thelongitudinal axis of the annular body up to a point situated below ahorizontal plane through the center of the annular body.

To ensure that at any moment only a single note sheet will be fed intothe dispensing slot, there is providcd internally of the internal cavityadjacent the lower edge of the dispensing slot and at the inner surfaceof the lower housing member a sheet stripping ledge having an acuteridge and a portion internally of the housing that extends transverselyof the longitudinal axis of the annular body. This ledge portioncooperates with the inclined and slightly curved lower front wall of thelower housing member in defining a low frictionalresistance and ensuringa perfect sheet feed.

In order to achieve a perfect separation of sheets when withdrawing thesame from the housing, i.e. to

overcome the adhesion between individual sheets, and

to prevent dispensing of several sheets simultaneously through thedispensing slot, there, is provided, in accor dance with another featureof the present invention, at the lower edge of the dispensing slot, anintegral stripping ledge whereby a housing wall portion of the lowerhousing member adjacent the lower edge of the dispensing slot is of anarcuate configuration, and the dispensing slot comprises a downwardlyflaring conical portion extending from one housing side wall, the loweredge of the conical portion extended by an inclined stepped portion, theinclined stepped portion being extended by a longer substantialhorizontal edge portion,

all of these portions defining together a wider dispensing section Thisdispensing slot design results in a fan 'out of the memo sheets at thecurved surface leading up to the dispensing slot so that the sheets mayonly be gripped at a point adjacent their front edge, with the result ofa small frictional resistance and that feeding of several sheetssimultaneously is prevented.

in the following, the present invention will be described more in detailwith reference to the illustrative embodiments shown in the appendeddrawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a dispensingdevice for memo sheets or the like in ae cordance with the presentinvention, the sheet receiving housing of the device having a frontdispensing slot;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the dispensing device shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the dispensing device of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view along the line lVlV of FIG. 3, withno memo sheets within the housing;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view along the line IVIV of FIG. 3 butwith a stack of memo sheets in serted into the housing;

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view along the line VIVI of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of the housing of the dispensingdevice having a sheet separating means, in accordance with a secondembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a top view of the lower housing member of the embodiment shownin FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional view along the line lX-IX of FIG. 8; and

FIG. 10 is a front elevational view of the dispensing slot of theembodiment shown in FIGS. 7-9.

The device for dispensing memo sheets or the like in accordance with thepresent invention consists of a housing 10 made of a synthetic materialor any other suitable material. The housing 10 consists of two parts, abox-type lower housing member 11, and a likewise box-type upper housingmember 12. The bottom wall of the lower housing member 11 is shown bythe reference numeral 11a, and the top wall of the upper housing member12 is designated by the reference numeral 12a. The side walls of thelower and upper housing members 11 and 12 extend preferablysubstantially vertically. The front wall of the housing 10 is in bothembodiments shown in FIGS. 1-10 provided with a dispensing slot 14. Theadjacent wall portions 11b and 12b of lower and upper housing members 11and 12 are in the first embodiment inclined toward the dispensing slot14. The wall portion 11); may also have an arcuate configuration, asshown in FIGS. 8 and 9 for the second embodiment. The upper housingmember 12 is connected to the lower housing member 1 1 by means of areleasable or a hinge-type connection 15. A hinge-type connection 15between lower and upper housing members 11 and 12 is shown in FIGS. 4and 5. The dispensing slot 14 is provided in the region in which lowerand upper housing members 11 and 12 meet.

The memo or note sheets which may be inserted into the lower housingmember 11 of the dispensing device are indicated by the referencenumeral (see FIG. 5).

An annular body is retained in a freely floating manner internally ofthe housing 10. The annular body 30 engages at one side the innersurface of the upper top wall 120 of the upper housing member 12, and atits opposite side the uppermost sheet of the stack of memo sheets 20.The annular body 30 consists of a continuous or endless loop and is madeof elastic resilient materials providing the annular body 30 with aninherent rigidity. The annular body 30 may be made of spring steel orany suitable plastic material having a sufficiently high elasticresiliency. Apart from such elastic resilient properties the annularbody 30 should also exhibit a certain inherent rigidity, as may beprovided thereto by the usage of spring steel. In the unloaded orunbiased condition, i.e. before being installed into the interior cavityof the housing 10 the annular body 30 is ofa circular configuration. Thediameter of the annular body determines the feed path length of memosheets or the like so that therefore the diameter of this annular bodyis adapted to the required memo sheet path length. After being installedin the housing 10 the annular body 30 will be compressed by the upperhousing member 12 and will thus assume an oval configuration as shown inFIGS. 4 and 5. A portion of the annular body 30 engages the memo sheets20. When with drawing a sheet from the dispensing device the underlyingnext memo sheet will be transported into the dispensing slot so thatpart of the sheet projects through the slot toward the outside of thehousing, i.e. beyond the dispensing device, and may thus be easilygripped by means of the fingers.

To increase the frictional forces between the annular body 30 and thememo sheets 20 the annular body 30 is provided with a coating of rubberor a plastic material that defines a rough surface. In the embodimentshown in the drawings, the annular body 30 is provided with a ribbon 31in the form of a rubber tape or the like covering the whole outerperiphery of the annular body 30. Due to its elasticity, the ribbon 31follows all deformations of the annular body 30.

The annular body 30 is retained within the interior cavity of thehousing 10 by means of a mounting 40 attac-hed to the inner surface ofthe upper housing member 12. This mounting 40 comprises a bracket 41consisting of two legs 41a, 41b and a web portion 410 interconnectingthe legs. The free leg ends of the bracket 41 are connected to the innersurface of the upper housing member top wall 120. The web portion 41c ofthe bracket 41 is spaced from the upper housing member top wall anddefines an intersticc 42 therebetween. This interstice 42 serves toguide the upper portion 30a of the annular body 30 (see FIGv 4). Theupper housing member 12 is additionally provided with internal slidebars 43, 44 the mutual spacing of which is somewhat smaller than thewidth of the annular body 30 so that when withdrawing memo sheets fromthe dispensing device the annular body 30 will roll on the slide bars43, 44 (see FIG. 6). In order to prevent any displacement of the annularbody 30 toward the dispensing slot 14 when withdrawing a memo sheet thetop wall mounted slide bars 43, 44 at the upper housing member areextended, at their ends facing the dispensing slot 14, by steppedprojections 46 having vertical edges 46a defining stops (see FIG. 4).These stops 46a extend to a point below the axis of the annular body inthus preventing the annular body 30 from being pulled under the stops460. For minimizing friction between the slide bars 43, 44 and theannular body material, the support surfaces of the slide bars 43, 44 maybe provided with an undulated or corrugated profile 45 (see FIGS. 4 and5).

To ensure that at any moment only a single memo sheet 20 will be fedtoward the dispensing slot 14, a step-like protruding stripping ledge 51is provided adjacent the lower edge of the dispensing slot 14 at theinner surface of the lower housing member 11. The stripping ledge 51 isprovided internally of the housing with a portion 51:! extendingtransversely of the longitudinal axis of the annular body (see FIGS. 4and 5). The stripping ledge 51 may be camshaped and be attached toeither one or both of the housing members 11 and 12 in a substantiallycentral position with respect to the annular body 30. The strippingledge 51 may also extend along the whole length of the dispensing slot14.

In the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 7-10 the dispensing slot 14 isprovided with a front edge having an integrated stripping ledge. Thefront housing wall llb leading up to the lower edge 14a of thedispensing slot 14 is ofa curved configuration. The dispensing slot 14is provided with a downwardly flaring conical portion 14b extending fromone housing side wall over a part of the dispensing slot length. Thelower edge 140 of the conical portion 14b is extended by an inclinedstepped portion 14d which is in turn followed by a longer substantiallyhorizontal edge portion 140. Memo sheets pushed against the wall portionthat leads up to the dispensing slot 14 will thus be fanned out andbecome engaged at only one point of their front edge, within thenarrowed portion 14b of the slot so that the sheets are separated fromeach other (FIG. 10).

At the rear wall of the lower housing member 11 are provided two fillingmarks 60, 61 preventing the user of the dispensing device to insert morethan a recommended quantity of memo sheets into the housing 10, in thusprotecting the transport mechanism against damages and avoiding anyinterference with the functioning of the device by over-filling.

The dispensing device of the present invention is used as follows: Afterremoving or rotating into an open position the upper housing member 12with respect to the lower housing member 11 a stack of memo I sheets maybe inserted into the lower housing member ll. Since the annular body isretained at the inside of the upper housing member 12, it cannot dropout of the housing 10 and become lost when refilling the housing 10 withmemo sheets, After the memo sheets have been inserted into the housing10 the upper housing member 12 is replaced or swung back onto the lowerhousing member 11 whereby the edges of the upper housing member 12frictionally engage the edges of the lower housing member 11. Beforereplacing the upper housing member 12, a memo sheet such as the oneindicated by 20:: in FlG, 5 is inserted into the dispensing slot 14 sothat a portion 20:! of this memo sheet 2011 projects beyond thedispensing slot 14. The end of the memo sheet 20a remote from thedispensing slot 14 will then be clamped between the lower portion 30b ofthe annular body 30 and the stack of memo sheets 20. When withdrawingthe memo sheets 200 from the dispensing slot 14 the high friction forcesbetween the memo sheet 200 and the annular body 30 cause a rotationalmovement of the annular body 30 in that the latter rolls, i.e. performsa rolling movement within the housing 10, in the direction indicated bythe arrow .r, on the memo sheets, i.e. on the uppermost memo sheet 20band on the rear portion of the advanced memo sheet 2011, and along theslide bars 43, 44 (see FIG. 5

While withdrawing a memo sheet from the dispensing device, the uppermostmemo sheet 20/ of the stack of memo sheets inserted into the housingwill likewise be pushed in the direction of the arrow y (see PK]. 5)toward the dispensing slot 14, due to the relatively high frictionalforces between the annular body 30 and the paper material of the sheet.The overall arrangement of the annular body 30 within the housing 10 andthe design of the annular body 30 with respect to the length of theannular body are such that when withdrawing a memo sheet the immediatelyunderlying memo sheet will be transported by the rolling annular body 30into and partly through the dispensing slot 14, thus presenting agripping portion of the memo sheet on the outside of the dispensing slot14. This gripping portion allows to readily withdraw a memo sheet fromthe dispensing device. The inclined front walls of the lower housingmember 11 of the housing 10 and the stripping ledge 51 assist in safelyguiding the individual memo sheets to the dispensing slot 14.

The dispensing device of the present invention allows to remove singlememo sheets and to simultaneously transport the next following memosheets into a gripping position on the outside of the memo sheetcontaining housing, The automatic transport of the following memo sheetswhen withdrawing a single memo sheet is achieved by simple technicaleXpedients so that the dispensing device may be manufactured at lowcost. The upper guide bars for the metallic transport conveyor means arepreferably at least partly made of a metallic material, in order tominimize friction between the transport means and the guides.

What is claimed is:

l. A dispensing device for dispensing memo sheets or the like,comprising of a two-part housing of a lower housing member and an upperhousing member defining together a dispensing slot at a front end of thehousing, a stack of sheets adapted to be inserted into said housing, andan endless conveyor means adapted to act upon a stack of memo sheetsinserted into said housing, said dispensing device characterized by anannular body floating freely within the interior cavity of said housing,said housing being closed on all sides except for said front enddispensing slot, said annular body engaging with an upper portion theinner surface of the upper housing member top wall, and engaging with alower portion an uppermost sheet of a stack of memo sheets inserted intosaid lower housing member, said annular body consisting of a continuousstrip of spring steel coated at its outer periphery with a centralribbonlike friction-increasing coating, and adapted to assume asubstantially elliptic configuration with substantially arcuateengagement surface portions, in automatically adjusting itself to thespacing between the uppermost memo sheet and the inner surface of saidtop wall upper housing member, in thereby maintaining an approximatelycvcn contact pressure, said annular body furthermore being guided by amounting provided within said housing cavity, and being in engagementwith a pair of profiled bar-type slide surfaces integral with'the innersurface of said upper housing member top wall, each of said guidesurfaces being extended, at the end facing the dispensing slot, by avertical stop extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of saidannular body to a point located below a horizontal plane through thecenter of said annular body.

2. A dispensing device as defined in claim 1, characterized in that asheet stripping ledge with a portion transversely of the longitudinalaxis of said annular body and disposed internally of said internalcavity defined by said housing is formed adjacent the lower edge of thedispensing slot on the inner surface of the lower housing member.

3. A dispensing device as defined in claim 2, charactcrizcd in that thewall portions adjacent the dispensing slot of the substantially verticalouter walls of said upper and lower housing members are conicallytapered toward the dispensing slot.

4. A dispensing device as defined in claim 1, characterized in that toseparate individually withdrawn sheets a housing wall portion of thelower housing member adjacent the lower edge of the dispensing slot isof an arcuate configuration, and that the dispensing slot comprises adownwardly flaring conical portion extending from one housing side wall,the lower edge of the conical portion extended by an inclined steppedportion, the inclined stepped portion being extended by a longersubstantially horizontal edge portion, all of these portions definingtogether a wider dispensing section.

5. A dispensing device as defined in claim 1, characterized in that saidcoating on the outer periphery of said annular body consists of a rubbertape.

6. A dispensing device as defined in claim 1, characterized in that saidannular body in unbiased condition is of a substantially circularconfiguration and of a diameter selected in accordance with the feedpath length of individual memo sheets toward the dispensing slot 7. Adispensing device as defined in claim 1, characterized in that saidmounting for said annular body comprises a bracket integral with theinner surface of the upper housing member of said housing, said brackethaving a pair of legs and a web portion interconnecting said legs, saidweb portion being spaced from said upper housing member and definingtherebetween an interstice for guidance of said annular body, and a pairof mutually spaced bars extending along the inner top wall surface ofthe upper housing member in the longitudinal direction of said annularbody, said bars defining bearing surfaces for said annular body, thespacing between said bars being somewhat smaller than the width of saidannular body.

8. A dispensing device as defined in claim 1, characterized in that apair of laterally spaced abutment cams adapted to delimit the height ofa stack of memo sheets are arranged at the inner surface of the verticalhousing rear wall.

1. A dispensing device for dispensing memo sheets or the like,comprising of a two-part housing of a lower housing member and an Upperhousing member defining together a dispensing slot at a front end of thehousing, a stack of sheets adapted to be inserted into said housing, andan endless conveyor means adapted to act upon a stack of memo sheetsinserted into said housing, said dispensing device characterized by anannular body floating freely within the interior cavity of said housing,said housing being closed on all sides except for said front enddispensing slot, said annular body engaging with an upper portion theinner surface of the upper housing member top wall, and engaging with alower portion an uppermost sheet of a stack of memo sheets inserted intosaid lower housing member, said annular body consisting of a continuousstrip of spring steel coated at its outer periphery with a centralribbon-like friction-increasing coating, and adapted to assume asubstantially elliptic configuration with substantially arcuateengagement surface portions, in automatically adjusting itself to thespacing between the uppermost memo sheet and the inner surface of saidtop wall upper housing member, in thereby maintaining an approximatelyeven contact pressure, said annular body furthermore being guided by amounting provided within said housing cavity, and being in engagementwith a pair of profiled bar-type slide surfaces integral with the innersurface of said upper housing member top wall, each of said guidesurfaces being extended, at the end facing the dispensing slot, by avertical stop extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of saidannular body to a point located below a horizontal plane through thecenter of said annular body.
 2. A dispensing device as defined in claim1, characterized in that a sheet stripping ledge with a portiontransversely of the longitudinal axis of said annular body and disposedinternally of said internal cavity defined by said housing is formedadjacent the lower edge of the dispensing slot on the inner surface ofthe lower housing member.
 3. A dispensing device as defined in claim 2,characterized in that the wall portions adjacent the dispensing slot ofthe substantially vertical outer walls of said upper and lower housingmembers are conically tapered toward the dispensing slot.
 4. Adispensing device as defined in claim 1, characterized in that toseparate individually withdrawn sheets a housing wall portion of thelower housing member adjacent the lower edge of the dispensing slot isof an arcuate configuration, and that the dispensing slot comprises adownwardly flaring conical portion extending from one housing side wall,the lower edge of the conical portion extended by an inclined steppedportion, the inclined stepped portion being extended by a longersubstantially horizontal edge portion, all of these portions definingtogether a wider dispensing section.
 5. A dispensing device as definedin claim 1, characterized in that said coating on the outer periphery ofsaid annular body consists of a rubber tape.
 6. A dispensing device asdefined in claim 1, characterized in that said annular body in unbiasedcondition is of a substantially circular configuration and of a diameterselected in accordance with the feed path length of individual memosheets toward the dispensing slot.
 7. A dispensing device as defined inclaim 1, characterized in that said mounting for said annular bodycomprises a bracket integral with the inner surface of the upper housingmember of said housing, said bracket having a pair of legs and a webportion interconnecting said legs, said web portion being spaced fromsaid upper housing member and defining therebetween an interstice forguidance of said annular body, and a pair of mutually spaced barsextending along the inner top wall surface of the upper housing memberin the longitudinal direction of said annular body, said bars definingbearing surfaces for said annular body, the spacing between said barsbeing somewhat smaller than the width of said annular body.
 8. Adispensing device as defined in claim 1, characteriZed in that a pair oflaterally spaced abutment cams adapted to delimit the height of a stackof memo sheets are arranged at the inner surface of the vertical housingrear wall.